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8 (No Model.)

A. M. GOOLEY.

PROGEsS 0R METHOD OF MAKING WOODEN SHADE ROLLERS 0R POLES. No. 379,685. Patented Mar. 20, 1888.

uv PETERS, Ph n-Lmw mn Washington. a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR M. COOLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AUGUSTUS G. BURTON, OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS 0R METHOD OF MAKING WOODEN SHADE ROLLERS 0R POLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,685 dated March 20, 1888.

Application filed April 15, 1887. Serial No. 234,904.

(No model.)

doln occur in practice. In case an article like Be it known that I, ARTHUR M. CooLEY, of a rod or roller is made up of two pieces glued Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of together, also, the article will tend to warp or Illinois, have invented certain new and useful shrink in one direction and thereby become Improvements in Shade-Rollers, Curtaiucrooked if the heart side of the two strips is Poles, and Similar /Vooden Articles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved process or method of making wooden shade rollers and poles.

The process or method of making rollers, poles, and similar articles constituting my invention consists in severing a single piece or slab of wood into two separate pieces or strips and then joining or attaching said pieces or strips to each other in a position the reverse of that which they originally occupied with reference to each other. In carrying out this method the separate strips may be produced by severing the original pieces of wood longi tudinally, in which case the strips are secured together with their sides or faces which were originally side by side in contact with each other; or the strips may be made by severing in its middle a piece twice the length of the proposed article, and then turning one of the pieces end for end and placing the sides of the strips which were originally at the same side of the main strip in contact with each other. In either case the strips are secured together throughout their entire length, glue being pre ferred as a means of joining them.

It is a well-known fact that in the shrinking or warping of a piece of timber the sap part of the timber, or that nearest the bark of the tree, shrinks more than the heart portion, or that part which is at the middle of the tree. It follows that in the shrinking or warping of the wooden boards or strips the sap side of the wood becomes concave and the heart side convex or bowed out, so that in case of a roller or pole made of a single piece of wood the roller or pole will always become warped or bent to a greater or less extent by shrinkage, unless the article happens to be taken from the exact center of the tree-a condition which can selplaeed toward the same side of the article,and the samewill be true if the heart and sap sides are relatively so disposed as not to oppose or counterbalance each other. By the novel method above set forth I am enabled in every case to produce the exact result desired namely, an exact counterbalance of the tendency to warp in the two stripsby placing the strips together in a position the reverse of which they occupied in the tree-as, for instance, if the strips are secured together with the heart sides in contact, both will tend to become GODOZWG on their outer surfaces, and one will thus counterbalance the other and both will remain straight. Similarly, if two strips are attached side by side, with the heart side of the two strips at opposite margins of the faces which are in contact, the tendency to bend by shrinkage in one direction in one strip will be counteracted by a similar tendency in the other strip to bend in an opposite direction.

The general result above stated will be obtai ned when pieces orstrips are selectedpromis cuously, but seeured together with the heart sides orthe sapsides of the stripsopposedto each other; but a reliable and satisfactory result cair not be obtained unless the strips which are secured together originally formed adj acent parts of the same pieeeofwood. It is entirely obvious, for instance, that no two pieces taken from different trees, or from different parts of the same tree, could commonly be found which would shrink or warp to the same extent. It is entirely obvious, also, that if two pieces or strips are taken from the same tree, by cutting the grain at different angles the tendency to shrink will be different--that is to say, one piece may tend to shrink most at a corner and another at one of its fiat sides, so that the tendency to warp would not be mutually counteracted, and the article made therefrom would become more or less crooked.

By cutting the strips which are to comprise the finished article from the same piece of wood, by severing the latterinto two pieces, as proposed byme, the same conditions as to sh rinkage will be present in each piece, so that in reversing them in the manner above described an approxi mately perfect result will in every case be produced. The result stated can be better produced by severing a single piece of slab than by cutting a lougstrip into two parts, for the reason that while the opposite end portions of a long strip may have very nearly the same tendency to shrink, yet, on account of knots or twists or otherirregularities in the wood,the grain may be quite different in the opposite ends of such long strips, so that when the parts are severed and brought together a part with crooked grain may oppose a part With straight grain, and the tendency to warp would thus be unequal. In the case of two strips formed by severing a slab or strip longitudinally, however, each strip will partake of the peculiarities of the strip secured to it, so that a counterbalance of the distorting effect of unequal shrinkage is obtained in all parts of the finished article.

The invention may bemore readily under ings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a shaderoller constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view of a slab out of which the two halves or strips comprising the said roller may be. formed, the shape of the two strips being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 4 is an illustrative diagram showing the grain in the end ofthe wooden slab of sufficient width to form two strips. Fig. 5 is a view of two strips, formed by severing longitudinally the slab shown in Fig. 4, as secured together to form-a rod or bar. Fig. 6 is a side view of the connected strips shown in Fig. 5. Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10 illustrate slabs and strips in which the grain of the woodis differently disposed. Fig. 11 is a side view of a single strip adapted to be severed in two pieces by a central cross-cut. Fig. 12 is an end view of the same, showing the grain therein. Fig. 13 is a side View of the two severed ends of the bar shown in Fig. 11 when placed together. Fig. 14 is an end view of the same.

'As shown in said drawings, A, Figsl and 2, is a roller consisting of two strips or parts, B and O, which are secured together by glue. Preferably one of the strips, as B, is provided with a tongue, I), fitting a groove, 0, in the other strip, C, said tongue and strip serving to aid in holding the parts together, especially as regards relative lateral motion, and against.

strain which would be produced in case one strip tended to warp edgewise in one direction and the other strip edgewise in the other direction. The said strips B and Care furthermore shown as provided with opposing grooves 12 0 near their edges at one side of the roller, such grooves forming a cylindric pas sage, a, to the outside of the roller. Said passage and slot are for the purpose of enabling a curtain to be readily attached to the roller by inserting the folded edge of the curtain containing a cord into said passage a in a wellknown manner.

The strips B and O are shown in Fig. 2 as being placed together with their sap sides innermost. When thus arranged, the said strips will tend to become concave .to an equal extent upon their inner or contact faces, and such tendency being the same in each the roller will remain straight.

Fig. 3 illustrates a slab from which the strips A and B may be cut, the outlines of the said strip being shown in dotted lines as they will appear after they have been cut from the slab. It will of course be understoodthat in making two strips like the strips 0 and B shown both will be cut at once from a single pieceor slab in the manner clearly indicated in said Fig. 3. Devices for shaping the strips in this manner are well known and need not here be described.

Fig. 4 shows a slab, D,.adapted to be divided longitudinally upon the dotted line d d to form two strips. D D as seen in Fig. 5, which shows in end view the said two strips as secured together to form a single bar, D, with the heart sides of the strips in contact with each other. The manner in which the strips D D will tend to warp is indicated in dotted 'lines in Fig. 6, in which figure, as well as in Figs. 4 and 5, d d indicate the sap sides of the slab and of the said strips D D it being entirely apparent that inasmuch as the force exerted by the shrinkage of the sap wood is equal in both strips thebar D will remain straight.

Fig. 7 shows in end view a flat slab, E, cut from the tree with its flat sides about radial, or, in other words, with its narrower sides or edges parallel with the layers or rings of the grain. If this slab E is severed longitudinally upon the line 8 0, two strips, E E will be formed, which may be reversed and secured together to form a bar, E, as indicated in Fig. 8. i

In Figs. 7 and 8, 0 indicates the sap sides of the strips, or the sides which will become concave in the shrinkage of the strips. When the strips are placed together, as shown in Fig. 8, the sides tending to become convex will be located-at opposite sides of the bar, so that the latter must remain straight, provided the connection between the bars is unbroken.

Figs. 9 and 10 show an instance in which the tendency to the greatest shrinkage is in one corner of the original bar F, Fig. 9, and in corners f f at opposite sides of the compound bar F when the strips F F are secured together. The result in this case is obviously the same as in the other instances illustrated.

Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 14 show a bar, G, which may be out upon the line 9 9 into two parts, G G', shown in Figs. 13 and 14 as secured together to form a compound bar, G. In this case, as|in those before mentioned, the sap side 9 of the bar G will tend to become convex,

ent to the sides to be united, and then'permanently uniting the said parts or strips together I 5 longitudinally in a relative position the reverse of that originally occupied by them, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of 20 two witnesses.

ARTHUR M. GOOLEY.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES T. LORING, AUGUSTUS G. BURTON. 

